After my first full round of Beinn a' Ghlo in March, I went back and did it again, in the opposite direction.

Uncle Steve was getting back into hillwalking and he wondered if I would be up for Beinn a' Ghlo. I'd done it not a few weeks before but I was up for it. I picked him up then we headed on to Blair Atholl. I wasn't expecting much from this day, I felt I knew what to expect. Still, the get-head-down-and-enjoy-it won out and we set off for the walk up the front of Carn Liath (that's one hell of an erosion scar) and onto the summit where the wind blasted with enough ferocity to make us look drunk. I actually felt dizzy. Otherwise, the weather was quite calm with bits of sun coming through.

It actually turned into a really good day, and we crossed over Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain to Carn nan Gabhar, carried by wind and feeling really on top form. It was a good reminder that even if you've done the hill and you aren't expecting much, a good blast of fresh air and a nice ring of peaks can do great things for the mind. Often days are good because you weren't expecting much.

But more than anything, I remember the chat being really good.

We dropped across Airgiod Bheinn back to the valley, through the heather and wee crags. A solid pace took us around the mountain back to the car. We'd hoped to make slightly quicker work of it, but we still got back for quarter past 5 and a little past the hour.

A good day. Simple, deeply pleasing. Beinn a' Ghlo is almost a routine now...